Resolving The Impossible

Mountain climbers scale cliffs that turn back the average hiker. They do it by training and practice.

In the field of industry, researchers defy what some say is impossible. Over a hundred years ago, it was suggested that the patent office be closed since all the inventions had already been made. How wrong they were! For example, the invention of the transistor in 1948 by Bell Telephone Laboratory revolutionized communication. But that has been left in the dust. In the past fifty years, we have seen the development of much more complex systems based on microchips, a distant relative of the transistor. What was thought to be impossible has become a reality.

Mrs. Yoder and I have hosted seminar trips to the Holy Land for a number of years, and in the 1960s and even the 1970s, when I wanted to telephone the office, I would place my telephone call with the operator at the hotel, and she would say, “I’ll call you.” And generally, I had to wait thirty minutes for that call to get through.

In 1994 when we were in Israel, I telephoned the AAA traveler’s checks office in the US. The call went through so quickly that I thought I was talking to Tel Aviv. Instead, I was talking to New York! Can you believe it! Right from the hotel in Israel, without any delay it seemed, I was able to talk with the people in New York City.

Communication is frightening in some respect. If such achievements are possible in the physical sciences, what about the areas of philosophy and metaphysics? Some progress has been made there. Of course, our minds are not programmed, although they operate by certain laws. In other words, in the physical sciences, you can program and come out where you expect to come out. However, in the field of the mind, it’s different. For example, no statement can be true and false at the same time. That’s a philosophical law.

Paul was well trained. When the Holy Spirit directed his intellect, Paul was used of God to present the truth. In I Corinthians 15:12-19 he faces the impossible.

12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

14 And if Christ be not risen, then [is] our preaching vain, and your faith [is] also vain.

15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.

16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith [is] vain; ye are yet in your sins.

18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

By raising certain false positions, the apostle Paul deals with Resolving The Impossible. The first position the apostle raises is:

12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

The false premise was there is no resurrection. That was based on the ordinary. Nobody had seen anyone else rise from the dead. For that matter, nobody saw Jesus actually rise from the dead. So since nobody saw Him, some said there is no resurrection of the dead.

Well, I remember a number of years ago when we lived in Harrisonburg, Virginia, a certain man who was quite “a spiritual leader” died. His followers were absolutely convinced he would rise from the dead. They had the date all set. Now they had buried him in the cemetery like other people, in a concrete vault. But when the day approached, would you believe it, people actually flocked to the cemetery to see this man rise from the dead. But you know what, he didn’t. And the result was devastating for some people because they had been so sure he would rise from the dead. He didn’t. So they could argue, as they did in Paul’s day, that no one else arose from the dead, how could Jesus arise from the dead? But He did, that’s true.

There is one factor in here that isn’t spoken about by Paul. It is true no one else arose from the dead as Jesus did, but then no one else lived as Jesus did either. Keep that in mind. Look deeply into the record of Jesus’ life and you will see that there is a particular reason why He arose from the dead and other people didn’t.

The apostle goes on to say that if there is no resurrection if the basic premise is no resurrection, then there is no risen Christ. And if there is no risen Christ, then we have empty preaching and empty faith, useless, no content. We are, as it were, beating the air, wasting our breath.

Into this mix, we must see that belief is foundational. Today it is not possible, visually, to see Jesus rise from the dead. As I said before, nobody saw Him actually rise from the dead anyway. The angel came down and rolled the stone away, and the disciples could see the empty tomb. But nobody saw Him rise from the dead. They saw Him after He had risen from the dead. So it is a matter of believing, a matter of faith. That is the whole secret, but I will say a little more about that later.

I have had great help from Barnes’ commentary on I Corinthians. Let me share a bit with you again now:

The doctrine of the resurrection, therefore, does not rest on a metaphysical subtilty; it does not depend on human reasoning; it does not depend on analogy; it rests just as the sciences of astronomy, chemistry, anatomy, botany, and natural philosophy do, on well-ascertained facts; and it is now a well-understood principle of all true science that no difficulty, no obstacle, no metaphysical subtilty; no embarrassment about being able to see HOW it is, is to be allowed to destroy the conviction in the mind which the facts are fitted to produce.

So the first position is The False Premise, which he resolves.

The second position is:

14 And if Christ be not risen, then [is] our preaching vain, and your faith [is] also vain.

15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.

16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith [is] vain; ye are yet in your sins.

18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

Paul said if there is no resurrection, then what we have been preaching is false. We are false witnesses to these things. There is no message if there is no resurrection. Why go to all the ends? Why travel across the Roman empire? Why hazard your life on the high seas, among robbers, if there is no message, if there is no resurrection? It is a delusion, a disordered state of mind. If there is no resurrection, then there can be no risen Christ.

I want to point out that the whole matter rests upon the faith a person has, and faith is a decision of the will. Don’t tell me you can’t believe. You can’t believe because your mind won’t let you believe. If you get the consent of your mind, then you can believe.

So if there is no resurrection, there is no pardon. You are yet in your sins if there is no resurrection, think of it. All the people of all the world throughout all the generations that have believed in Jesus have simply believed a delusion, a disordered state of mind.

And so there is a false promise. Paul said, I have been a false witness if there is no resurrection, then hang it up. No forgiveness, no forgiveness! What a tragedy? Paul is resolving the impossible.

I refer again to Barnes. Here are his words:

This passage is full proof that Christ did not die merely as a martyr, but that his death was to make atonement for sin. That he died as an atoning sacrifice, or as a vicarious offering, is here declared by Paul to be among the first things that he taught; and the grand fundamental truth on which the church at Corinth had been founded, and by which it had been established, and by which they would be saved. It follows that there can be no true church, and no well-founded hope of salvation, where the doctrine is not held that Christ died for sin.

Oh, my friend, the second position is The False Promise, rectified by faith in Jesus Christ.

The third position is:

19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

No hope! If only in this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable, most to be pitied. And believers are dead and gone, no hope.

Some years ago when I was engaged in evangelistic services in a rural community, we went to visit in a home. When we got there, the man was out repairing his chicken coop, on a Sunday afternoon. He apologized a bit. As we were talking, he looked over to where several of his horses were in the pasture lot and said, “When I die, I will die like one of those horses.” His daughter, who was standing nearby, said, “Oh, Dad!” Yes, that is the point. Is there any hope beyond this life? If there is no resurrection, that man was right when he said I’ll die like a horse.

But if there is a resurrection, there is another chapter to the whole story. We are more than a better-organized animal walking on two feet. We have not come up from the animal race. We have come down from the hand of God. We can escape our ordinary train of thought.

I mentioned a little while ago about having been in Israel. You know, when I was talking about that, I saw it. Yes, I was there, trying to make a telephone call.

We can soar to mental heights unknown by the higher order of animals. We have powers of the mind that we need to control and exercise.

Our hope transcends all earthly ideas. I want to emphasize the word transcend. It is a wonderful word, because it goes far and away beyond and above the ordinary, beyond all earthly ideas. The apostle John in I John 3:2-3 said, “We shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure,” speaking of Jesus of course.

Again let me share with you a word from another writer:

“Most miserable!” Could there be a greater torture? “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” The hope of being with him hereafter, of seeing and enjoying him, of becoming more and more like him,—this is our heaven of anticipation; the crown is “a crown of righteousness;” the eternal reward is nearer and fuller communion with him. But this hope is all vain. Himself uncrowned, himself left to the dishonor of the grave, what can Christ be to you and what relief afford you—you of all men most wretched? Other men resign themselves to their dreams of earthly joy, seek the pleasures of sense and find them, fall down and worship Satan and get their kingdoms of power and wealth and passion. These you have denied yourselves and put far from your pursuits. Heaven has been enough for you. But lo! this heaven is a vain hope, a fleeting creature of fancy, and you are the victims of a supreme folly, the lowest on earth in hopeless misery.

If there is no resurrection, that is the situation.

So the third concept is The False Piety bound by earth ties.

The apostle Paul resolves the impossible and presents the correction of three false positions:

No resurrection

No message

No hope

My friend, to experience the true premise, the true promise, and true piety, believe, confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe that God has raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved.